Cut out construction



y 3, 1951 w. o. SCHULTZ 2,558,985

CUTOUT CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 7, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 V w l/II/I/A INVENTOR.

m fl/z/ w 0. J z/g July 3, 1951 w. o. SCHULTZ 2,558,985

CUTOUT CONSTRUCTION Fi l ed Aug. 7, 1947 I s Sheets-Sheet 2 N (I, i I I' I Ev i Y INVENTOR.

Patented July 3, 1951 CUT OUT CONSTRUCTION Wil1iam' Schultz, South Milwaukee, Wis;, as-- signonto McGraw'Electric' Gompany; a; corporation of Delaware Application August 7, 1947., Serial No. 767,037

4 Claims. 1; This invention relates to a cutout construction and is particularly directed to' a drop-out fuse type of'cutout.

Objects of this invention are to provide a cutout construction in which the fuse tube is normally mounted horizontally and is housed within a casing or housing which is open at both its ends and is open at the bottom and is provided with spaced terminals and with an intermediate insulating barrier, and in which the fuse construction is such that under both light and heavy overloads a true expulsion action takes place and under very heavy overloads venting of the fuse tube occurs at both ends.

Further objects are to provide a horizontally mounted fuse cutout of the drop-out type in which there are no live parts exposed when the fuse tube is in its dropped out position, and in which the fuse tube may be readily removed without danger to the lineman and. may be re-fused and repositioned and thereafter rocked into service by means of a switch stick in the usualmanner, the construction of the fuse tube and, associated parts being such that the fuse tube may be removed and replaced" by means of a switch stick.

Further objects are to provide a horizontally mounted'drcp-out fuse construction in which the. horizontally mounted housing has downwardly projectin sideportions which completely protect themechani'sm and form drip edges so that rain is freely discharged clear of" any of the internal mechanism within the. housing and so that the formation of ice orthe accumulation ofsnow on the housing cannot prevent free and" unhindered operation of the device;

An embodiment of the invention is shown inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a sectional elevation showing the fusetube in circuit closed position.

Figure 2is an end view of the device with the fusetube removed.

Figure 3-' is a sectional View on the line 3"--3' of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view partly broken away showing the fuse tube in its dropped out position.

. Figure 5 is a; fragmentary detail ofone of the stationary contacts and the movable or freeend of the fuse tube, such view being taken fromthe under side of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is an end view of the structure shown in Figure 5- with parts broken away.

Referring to the: drawings, it will be seen that the porcelain or other insulating housing has 2 been indicated'by thereference character I; This" housing is provided with apairof downwardly projecting side portions 2 and is open at itsfront andrear ends as indicatedat' 3'and 4', respectively; It" is provided with terminals indicated generally at Sand 6'. Each of these" terminals is provided" with clamping means 1 arranged to clamp the conductors 8 and 9 to the respective terminals; The conductors are designed to enter the" housing; through apertures in its side walls as indicated by the reference character Ill in Figure 4'. The stationary terminal 5; is provided with a" u sha'ped' contact member II which is provided with inwardly pressed or projecting'portions l2 as shown most clearly in Figures 5 and 6, which are arranged to overhang and retain the collar-liketerminal l3 on the fuse tube I' l. The fuse tube Hi may be of fiber or Bakelite lined with fib'er' in accordance with the usual practice; It is to be noted that the U-shaped contact H is also flared as may be seen in Figure 5 so that rearward motion of the fuse tube, that is to say; motion of the fuse tube towards the left as; viewed in Figure 5' will serve to release the free end or contact [3 of the fuse tube from the stationary contact II. The stationary contact H is resilient and is a good conductor and may be provided with a reinforcing spring l'5 on its outer side to increase the contact pressure exerted by the arms of the stationary contact ll against the terminal [3 of the fuse tube It.

The terminal is of the fuse tube is provided with a small tubular portion l6 and with an outwardly projecting contact finger ll against which the buttonhead [8 of the fuse link 19' is adapted to bear. This fuse link is provided with a fusible section and may be of any suitable type, for instance, as shown by the patent. to Brown, No. 2,382,602 of August I4, 1945 for Fuse Link. The head [8 of the fuse link is clamped by means of a lever 20 pivoted on the terminal l3- and held in clamped position against the head l8 by means of a thumb screw 20". The construction is such that under very heavy overloads the head IQ of the fuse link will be blown on" clear of the frictional grip between the lever 20 and the finger l7 and thus the fuse tube will be freely vented at both ends as the other end of the fuse tube is permanently open. It is" to be noted that the open portions 3 and 4 at onposite ends of the housing I provide for the free discharge of the highly heated conducting gases and that such gases will not collect in the housing. Consequently, there is a marked reduction in the tendency to are over between thesta-- tionary contacts even on very heavy overloads.

Means are provided for releasing the free end of the fuse tube M for drop-out motion. This means comprises a hinged terminal member 2| provided with a threaded stud 22 and a thumb nut 23 arranged to clamp the fuse link in place as shown in Figure 1. The terminal 2| is hinged as indicated at 24 to a collar 25 fastened to the fuse tube I l. The terminal 2| is provided with a rounded contact finger 26 arranged to bear against the stationary contact 21 of the terminal 6. This stationary contact is a relatively heavy spring and may be provided with a conducting sheath indicated at 28. This conducting sheath may be of high conducting material, whereas the body portion 21 furnishes the resiliency. The hinged terminal 2| is provided with a pivotally mounted flip-out lever 29 which is spring pressed for outward motion. It is provided with a notched end as indicated at 3| in Figure 4, which is adapted to receive the fuse link I9. Obviously when the fuse link is ruptured on overload the flip-out lever it quickly withdraws any remaining portion of the fuse link.

The pivotally mounted contact 2| of the fuse tube is provided with a pair of trunnions 32 which are normally received within hook-like supporting brackets 33 carried within the housing I, thereby allowing the fuse tube to be attached or detached as desired.

The contact member 2| is provided with a slot 2| to receive the headed end of a switch stick so that the fuse tube may be positioned or removed with a standard type of switchstick.

The brackets 33 are provided with slots 33' which open towards the adjacent open end of the housing and away from the stationary contact 21. This is a material advantage and improves the safety factor of the device. The safety factor of the device is also increased by providing arcuate flanges 2| on the terminal member 2| which overhangs rounded marginal portions 33" formed on the hook-like supports 33 whose coaction precludes removal of the trunnions 32 from the slots 33' until the fuse tube has been swung to a fully open position.

It is preferable to provide the housing i with an insulating barrier 34 positioned between the stationary contacts 5 and B.

The fuse tube It is preferably provided with an insulating eyeleted handle or manipulating handle 35 so that it may be rocked to open or closed position by means of a switch stick or by hand if so desired. When an overload occurs of moderate intensity the fuse tube vents from its permanently open end. On heavy overload, as stated, the buttonhead i8 of the fuse link blows oh and the fuse tube vents from both ends. When overload occurs the fuse link is ruptured and, as stated, the flip-out lever 29 quickly withdraws any remaining portion of the fuse link. Rupture of the fuse link allows the pivoted terminal 2| of the fuse tube to rock about its pivot point 24 and to thus allow the fuse tube I l to move to the left as viewed in Figure 1, thereby detaching its terminal l3 from the stationary contact ll of the stationary terminal 5. This allows the fuse tube to rock downwardly to the position shown in Figure 4, thus giving a visual signal that the fuse link is ruptured and also physically removing the fuse tube from between the stationary terminals 5 and 6. It is to be noted that when the fuse tube is in inoperative or dropped out position, as shown in Figure 4, that no exposed portion of the structure is electrically alive and consequently there is no danger to the lineman in removing the fuse tube.

It will be seen that a novel form of drop-out fuse cutout has been provided in which the fuse tube is mounted horizontally in a housing open at both ends and open at its bottom and that the mechanism is fully protected from rain, snow or ice and that no formation of snow or ice on the housing can interfere with the free operation of the device.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it is to be understood that such description is intended as illustrative rather than limiting, as the invention may be variously embodied and is to be interpreted as claimed.

I claim:

1. A cutout construction comprising an elongated insulating housing arranged to be mounted horizontally and having a top and downwardly extending side walls and having open ends, a pair of spaced stationary terminals located whol- 13/ within said housing and arranged to receive conductors, said side walls having openings adjacent said terminals to accommodate said conductors, a hook-shaped support extending down wardly from the top of said housing and located within said housing, a fuse tube open at both ends and pivoted on said hook-shaped support. restraining means releasably restraining said fuse tube against donwward swinging motion about said hook-shaped support, a headed fuse link within said tube electrically connecting said stationary terminals, and means arranged to grip the side of the head of said fuse link in closing relation to one end of said fuse tube, said head being arranged to be blown outwardly through the opening in one end of said housing on heavy overloads, said fuse link when ruptured releasing said restraining means.

2. A cutout construction comprising an elongated insulating housing arranged to be mounted horizontally and having a top and downwardly extending side walls and having open ends, a first stationary terminal having U-shaped arms, a second stationary terminal having a resilient arm, an expulsion fuse tube having a first terminal detachably interlocking with said first stationary terminal and having a second terminal having pressure engagement with the resilient arm of said second stationary terminal, means pivotally supporting said fuse tube for downward swinging drop-out motion, and a fuse link within said fuse tube electrically connecting the terminal of said fuse tube, said second terminal of said fuse tube including means normally restrained by said fuse link and arranged upon rupture of said fuse link to impart substantially horizontal motion to said fuse tube to thereby detach 1 the first terminal of said fuse tube from said first stationary terminal and allow said fuse tube to execute drop-out motion, said fuse tube having a permanently open end adjacent the second terminal of said fuse tube, the first terminal of said fuse tube having an opening therethrough aligning with the bore of said fuse tube and said fuse link having a head normally closing said opening, the first terminal of said fuse tube having clamping means for engaging the side edges of the head of said fuse link.

3. A cutout construction comprising an elongated insulatinghousing arranged to be mounted horizontally and having a top and downwardly extending side walls and having at least one open end and having stationary terminals adjacent each end of said housing, hook-shaped supports extending downwardly from the top of said housing and located within said housing adjacent the said open end and having slots opening outwardly towards the said open end and away from the stationary contact adjacent said open end, a fuse tube having trunnions removably located within said slots, a fuse link within said fuse tube electrically connecting said stationary contacts, and restraining means releasably restraining said fuse tube against downward swinging motion about said hook-shaped supports and controlled by said fuse link and arranged to release said fuse tube for downward swinging motion when said fuse link is ruptured.

4. A cutout construction comprising an elongated insulating housing arranged to be mounted horizontally and having a top and downwardly extending side walls and having at least one open end and having stationary terminals adjacent each end of said housing, hook-shaped supports extending downwardly from the top of said housing and located within said housing adjacent the said open end and having slots opening outwardly towards the said open end and away from the stationary contact adjacent said open end, a fuse tube having trunnions removably located within said slots, a fuse link within said fuse tube electrically connecting said stationary contacts, re-

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 22,315 Fry May 18, 1943 2,179,759 Schultz Nov. 14, 1939 2,264,203 Fry Nov. 25, 1941 2,265,521 Elliott Dec. 9, 1941 2,296,653 Schultz et al Sept. 22, 1942 2,324,888 Strobel July 20, 1943 2,338,823 Schultz et al Jan. 11, 1944 2,357,772 Schultz Sept. 5, 1944 2,423,258 Schultz July 1, 1947 

